In recent years, the sense of disconnect between Silicon Valley and the rest of the world has been growing. I'm not just singling out Silicon Valley, however; I’m referring to any part of the world that’s fuelled by the high-tech dreams of entrepreneurs, engineers and venture capitalists, without taking other perspectives into account.
This especially holds true amid the breakneck advancements of AI. Companies both young and old are trying to secure a future for themselves with an AI land grab while the public's attention spans are getting increasingly shorter.
Even for the entrenched entities like Google's parent company, Alphabet, there’s increasing difficulty when it comes to standing out in the corporate crowd flooded with AI chatbots, large language models and new platforms. Yet Google has a decidedly competitive advantage in the battle for attention – it has plenty of cash and a brand recognition that’s the envy of just about any corporation.
That advantage was on full display during the opening week of the 2024 Paris Olympics, when the internet search giant ran an ad showcasing its AI tool, Gemini.
In the ad, a father proudly narrates over video clips of his young daughter showing her affinity for running. The father in the ad makes it a point to say how his daughter is a fan of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the US track star and Olympic gold medallist. We then see a video of Google’s Gemini tool generating some answers in response to the prompt, “how to teach hurdle technique”.
The theme of the ad then suddenly pivots, with the father giving Gemini another prompt. “Gemini, help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney, how inspiring she is,” he says. We’re then shown an almost instantaneous response from Gemini, providing a draft for a potential letter to McLaughlin-Levrone. The ad ends with the tagline: “A little help from Gemini.”
For those of us who cover technology, and in particular the concerns about labour disruption and the ethics surrounding AI, the initial response to the ad was predictable – at least on social media platforms.
“Anyone else bothered by the ad where the dad asks Google Gemini to help her kid write a fan letter to Sydney McLaughlin? Do we need AI for a kid to write [to] an athlete?” the radio morning host Andrew Perloff wrote on X.
“This new Google AI ad is completely insane and I don’t understand how this gets made,” the social media journalist Josh Billinson posted on Threads. “Why sit down with your child and help them express their thoughts when you can just ask the robot to make them up!”
Those were just a few of the countless visceral responses to the ad, putting Google on the defensive.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, or maybe coincidentally, the comment section on the company’s YouTube page for Gemini was disabled. Adding to the pile-on, a few news outlets interviewed ad experts and technology ethicists about how and why the ad fell flat.
This backlash comes just weeks after Apple, another entrenched consumer technology company, experienced something similar.
While introducing its new iPad Pro and iPad Air during a live-streamed product announcement, Apple showcased a minute-long video titled “Crush!”, which depicted musical instruments, paint cans, brushes, record players, video game consoles, easels and metronomes being destroyed between two metal blocks, only to later reveal that all the obliterated items were replaced by the iPad.
“The destruction of the human experience, courtesy of Silicon Valley,” actor Hugh Grant wrote on X. “Why did Apple do an ad that crushes the arts?” actor Justine Bateman posted. Some critics even re-edited the ad to give it less of a destructive look.
In a rare move, Apple admitted to the trade publication AdWeek that the ad “missed the mark”.
By no means are all these criticisms without merit necessarily. Advertisements and promotional videos have long been treated as fair game, especially by the ad creatives who spend countless hours trying to perfect their craft. Criticism comes with the territory, especially in an era of social media where everybody is a critic, and ads receive instant and sometimes unsolicited feedback.
I should also point out that Apple, Google and their high-tech counterparts are more than capable of receiving criticism while remaining unscathed.
All that said, the recent blitz of negative feedback garnered by both companies says more about the public than it does about the companies, their products or their visions for how technology will affect our lives.
Would anybody have raged against calculator advertisements back in the 1970s for destroying the idea of mathematics? Of course not
For Google’s situation, I should point out that nowhere in the ad does the narrator suggest he's never going to teach his daughter how to write, and perhaps more importantly, he never implies he's going to encourage his daughter to plagiarise. In a conversational manner, he simply asks Google to help his daughter write a letter.
It doesn’t take repeated viewings of the ad to show that there’s plenty of nuance, and I think, to most viewers, the message was well-received. You can use Gemini to enrich your life the same way you’ve used Google’s search engine over the past couple of decades.
With Apple’s recent video, nowhere is the company calling for the destruction of property or objects. It’s simply showing, in 60 seconds, just how powerful Apple thinks its latest iPad is.
At the end of the day it’s a commercial, not a step-by-step guide on how we should live our lives.
Would anybody have raged against calculator advertisements back in the 1970s for destroying the idea of mathematics? Of course not.
That said, could these recent ads have been better executed? Of course. That's the growing chasm I referred to earlier between Silicon Valley and the public, but that’s the nature of the technology beast.
The collective concerns about the ads, at least in some circles, show that despite how engaged and evolved we like to think we are when it comes to our relationship with technology, there’s still more than enough fear of the unknown to make even the most seasoned professionals feel scared about the future, especially with AI.
In that same breath, it’s OK to be scared. But perspective is needed before we start dismissing AI tools as solely dehumanising and job killing. There’s room for nuance, there’s room for optimism, and yes, there’s room for regulations if needed.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
More coverage from the Future Forum
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
F1 drivers' standings
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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HAJJAN
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More on Quran memorisation:
The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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